Category: Senior Care

Understanding your eligibility for VA medical benefits can be challenging. To start, there’s a complex qualification system that considers service-related factors as well as your income. And, not all eligible veterans receive the same set of benefits. Your benefits package, for example, may range from limited healthcare services with full copayments to a broader set of medical and related services with no copayments at all.

The news that a spouse, parent, sibling, or child has been diagnosed with chronic illness stirs up a range of feelings, from guilt to grief. And then, before you’ve processed those feelings, you have to start addressing the practicalities of the situation. Who’s going to care for your chronically ill family member and how will your household adjust to this new reality, both emotionally and financially?

Whether you need full-time care, part-time care, or occasional respite care, choosing someone to look after your elderly loved one is a stressful process. You’re looking for a senior caregiver who can manage the details of the job — like cooking, cleaning, keeping medications organized. But caregiving is so much more than a list of household and helping tasks. It’s also an interpersonal role that demands compassion, patience, and excellent communication skills. 

One of the great unknowns for today’s senior is the cost of healthcare. Fidelity estimates that a recently retired senior couple will spend nearly $300,000 on out-of-pocket healthcare expenses — not including the costs of long-term care. That’s an alarming exclusion, given that long-term care is among the priciest and most commonly needed forms of senior healthcare. Statistically speaking, seven of 10 people will require some level of long-term care in their lifetime.

You want the best care possible for your elderly parent, but you don’t have the bandwidth to provide it around the clock. You’re not alone. Hundreds of thousands of families around the U.S. need some form of supplementary care to help with elderly relatives who have physical or cognitive impairments. If your parent isn’t quite ready for full-time nursing home care, adult day care might provide the support you need.

According to research by the National Institute of Health, there are about 1.5 million elderly adults above the age of 65 in nursing homes and 1 million in assisted living facilities. This population group of 65+ individuals is growing rapidly as 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 each day. In fact, the group has grown by 34.2% over the last decade and is expected to continue growing at a rapid pace meaning more and more people will require care in an assisted living or nursing home.

While palliative care and hospice care have a lot of similarities, there are some key differences to consider when thinking about which option is right for you or your loved ones. In this post, we’ll talk about what palliative and hospice care are and who can benefit from each.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many seniors are left with questions about the status of services and how to stay connected with loved ones. To help, we’ve compiled this comprehensive resource guide for seniors that covers essential coronavirus questions along with several resources to help stay updated and ensure your well-being throughout the situation.